Writing for Forbes, Robert H. Franks makes the worse argument so far in favor of stimulus spending. He argues that rational consumers will be more likely to believe economists who support the stimulus because there are many more of them, they have better jobs, and they aren’t ideologues:

The argument of stimulus opponents hinges on their belief that consumers and businesses will predict that stimulus won’t work. The fact that stimulus opponents are far less numerous, have less distinguished academic credentials, on average, and are far less ideologically diverse than their counterparts does not guarantee they’re wrong. But these factors should make rational consumers and investors less likely to side with them. And since this is really an argument about expectations, that’s probably enough.

I am always amazed to see that believing that the stimulus won’t work (because, historically, stimuli by spending have never worked) makes me an ideologue, contrary to the guy who believes it will work with no evidence, or in fact, with evidence of the contrary. Plus, never mind that five Noble Prize-winners were against Obama’s stimulus.

Read the whole thing here.